Good Evening All,

Time really has been flying as of late, and as I write this I realise it’s been 6 months since the last update was posted to the forums! As I’m sure is the case for most of you, summer has been particularly busy for me but (thankfully for my wallet) the summer socials are over and winter appears to be on the way all too fast. It’s been great to have some more free time lately, and I’ve very much enjoyed getting back on the Network to fly and control. It seems as though every few weeks we’re treated to new addons and updates within our simulators, and with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 just around the corner, there really hasn’t been a more exciting time to be part of our community. With that being said, VATSIM doesn’t stand still; the DSG and I have still been working behind the scenes and it’s time to share some important news.

Starting with appointments, this June I was happy to announce that @Nick Marinov would be joining the DSG as Deputy Division Director. Nick needs no introduction as a longstanding member of the community and I remain very pleased we managed to pry him away from the EMEA Region Staff team! The role of a Deputy has tended to vary over the appointments of my predecessors, however myself and Nick will be working in tandem on a number of projects for the Division moving forward. As I mentioned to Nick when he joined, it feels as though I’ve been shoved from GCAP to TVCP (to more recent struggles) since I joined, and having an extra pair of hands will prove invaluable when it comes to implementing some of the projects which I feel will benefit our members in a more tangible way.

On the topic of my more recent struggles, many will have likely seen @Kieran Hardern's resignation as Operations Director and the subsequent vacancy for this position. This role was always going to prove challenging to fill, in part due to the high bar which Kieran set during his tenure, but also due to the very specific knowledge required in order to run the Operations Department effectively. I was thrilled to see  @Dave Woodward’s application come across the Helpdesk last month, and we wasted little time getting him into the DSG. I know that the Operations Department will continue to thrive under Dave’s leadership, and it’s great to see him hit the ground running with his new role. As explained during an earlier update, Kieran was temporarily overseeing the Marketing Department whilst myself and the DSG discussed a way forward following unsuccessful attempts to recruit a Marketing Director earlier this year. This topic is worthy of further explanation in a separate post, however we are now in a position where the DSG is fully aligned on the future of the Marketing Department, so expect more on this soon.

I’ll now move on to a topic which isn’t frequently discussed on VATSIM, but I think is important to disclose to our membership, and that is the topic of funding. As a Division we are extremely lucky to have a number of bespoke services at our disposal, and services such as Core, CTS and UKCP have literally formed the backbone of everything we do in the Division. These services store vast quantities of data, from stand allocations to personal records, and handle thousands of requests per day - therefore they do come at a cost. With this in mind, when I ask people to guess how much we spend on running our web infrastructure every month, estimates usually range in the hundreds of pounds. Incredibly, our Technology Team manages to provide all of this for roughly £25 per month. Whilst this is still a small figure, and one which I believe represents excellent value for money, it has recently risen from around £5 per month and this increase is therefore substantial. Since the early pandemic, all of our web storage and server fees have been very kindly provided to us, free of charge, by our cloud service provider, DigitalOcean. We were informed earlier this year that they would no longer be able to continue providing this and as such, we would soon need to start paying for all our services which has resulted in the recent increase in running costs. In the long term, we are exploring the possibility of registering VATSIM UK as a charity or not-for-profit entity within the United Kingdom as this would open the doors to a variety of free products and services. This is not something I or any of the DSG have much existing knowledge about - it represents a long process and could introduce potentially unwanted, bureaucratic requirements such as financial reporting and governance, therefore any decision needs to be properly assessed to ensure it is right for the Division. With this being said, if you have previous experience or expertise in this area then please do reach out as we would love to hear from you! In the short term there is the possibility of moving to a cheaper service provider - this would marginally reduce our operatings costs but generally speaking, you get what you pay for. We take the safeguarding of your personal data incredibly seriously, and moving to a less-than-reputable provider in the interest of saving money is simply not on the cards. Therefore for now we are committed to paying these increased running costs.

The purpose of telling our membership this is not to worry you - VATSIM UK will always remain free-of-charge and will continue to exist for as long as VATSIM does. Many of you may recall our requests for donations prior to the pandemic and I feel it is important to provide this transparency ahead of time so that you will not be surprised to see such requests in the near future, but also so that those of you who do choose to donate know exactly how this money gets spent. Of course, all donations are completely voluntary and come with no strings or promises attached, and to me this further highlights the incredible generosity of our community - it is for this reason that our requests are so infrequent. On behalf of the DSG, I would like to thank those of you who have donated in the past and those who would consider donating in the future, but also to hundreds of members who support the Division in other ways by donating your time. It truly does not go unnoticed and we are incredibly grateful for your support, whatever form that takes.

Moving on once again, I’d like to briefly explain the Division’s stance on recent Code of Conduct updates. For those unfamiliar with the recent updates to the Code of Conduct, I would suggest the following VATSIM.net blog post for a brief overview of changes. I have seen a number of conversations on our Discord and elsewhere regarding this topic, particularly regarding the introduction of clause B14 and how this may be misinterpreted as forbidding non-RNAV capable aircraft on the Network. For the avoidance of any doubt, I have included guidance from VATSIM.net on this clause below, quoted directly from the Code of Conduct Companion Document:

Quote

Air Traffic Controllers utilize current navigational data and charts. ATC cannot possibly maintain all current and former procedures (airways, approaches, navaids) nor know which a pilot is using. As such, a pilot is expected to utilize current charts and fly according to current navigational data.

This section does not require a pilot to utilize procedures that the aircraft is incapable of utilizing. For example, an aircraft with nav (VOR/ILS) radios but no GPS will not be expected to be able to fly a GPS procedure

Other questions relate to the modification of clause A16 which now permits the use of the guard frequency (121.500) in line with real world procedures and encourages pilots and air traffic controllers to monitor this frequency where possible. Given that no easy means to achieve this exists within the AfV Client and owing to the fact that civilian controllers do not actively monitor guard frequencies in the UK, we do not expect our controllers to routinely monitor or transmit on guard. In short, we do not foresee any tangible impact to our controllers as a result of these Code of Conduct changes, however any potential future changes to operating procedures will be shared by the Operations Department via the usual channels.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that our quarterly Town Hall session will be taking place next week on the 10th of October, beginning at 1830z. This session will be focused primarily on the Technology Department and is a great opportunity for people to learn more about who goes on ‘behind the scenes’ to keep the lights on! I found the previous Town Hall to be incredibly beneficial to hear your suggestions, but also to connect with one another. This year’s VATSIM UK Live was the largest we’ve ever held and drove home the importance of maintaining channels of communication and not losing sight of our community focus. To that end, I have been pondering the possibility of running further in-person social events and I am keen to know if there would be demand for a Christmas social amongst our members. Owing to our 2024 events calendar, this would be a one night event, likely held in Birmingham due to its central location, on the 30th of November. The exact format and venue hasn’t been explored much, so it can be shaped around the desires of our members. Due to cost and logistical constraints at such short notice, we would not be able to hire out a conference room for any in person controlling, however a group meal or pub social would be more than do-able! If you are interested, please keep an eye on Discord over the coming week as I will post a poll-type message to gauge demand. Feel free to reach out privately with suggestions or raise these during next week’s Town Hall session.

That's all from me for now, however as always if you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch. I look forward to meeting many of you again next week for another (hopefully!) productive Town Hall session.

Ben